Rubber Puppet
(Announcer voice) Denver’s Talk Station 630 KHOW. (Music plays) (Tom) Hi, Tom Martino, your troubleshooter. Ah, we have more employment questions, hang on, we’ll get right to you. Welcome, what’s going on Dan? (LPC) I was working, and my manager, at the Denver Puppet Theater, was an eighties rock fan, you know, J. Geils, Boston, Einstürzende Neubauten, and such. And recently, I wore a different shirt during the Spirit of ’76 Festival, for the band Hound. And my manager Juanita said ‘no, no Hound, the singer of that band damaged my puppets,’ and this and that and the other thing, and she said, you know, ‘pound rocks’ basically, get outta here. So, my question is… Dan, let me ask you this, let me ask you this, this is a puppet theater, right? Yes. And you’re a puppeteer, or whatever they call you? Well, I’ve pioneered a new kind of rubber puppet, but basically, yes. I’m a puppeteer. Okay, and then another question, are you a W-2 employee, or are you a contractor? Contractor. Yeah, well, with a contractor in theater, ‘cause most actors are contractors, and that’s why I asked, you don’t have the same rights as an employee. Isn’t that right, sir? OHHHHHHH! (Third voice) That’s true, I mean, uh, then again, depending upon what kind of contract you might have with your uhhh… (Tom) Yeah. (Third voice) with your employer. (LPC) Well, have you heard of a precedent for having a particular band objectionable, and being fired on that basis? (Tom) Let’s just say for arguments sake, they control enough that he could make the argument he’s an employee, and should have rights. Could they creatively tell him they don’t want him to wear the, the shirt promoting a certain band? (Fourth voice) I want to make a guess this time, I’m guessing wearing a shirt you want is not a protective class, so yes, you could get fired for wearing something. (Third voice) Yes, you can absolutely get fired for wearing a particular shirt with a particular band on it. (LPC) Ohhhhhh! (Tom) So Dan, they could tell you that your puppet is off base. (Fourth voice) And if it was a Metallica shirt, they probably wouldn’t. But in your case, Hound. (Tom) They could. They could say ‘Dan, your puppet cannot wear this shirt anymore’. They could. (LPC Moans). (Tom) So you know, if you thought you were gonna sue her, there’s really nothing to sue for. (LPC) Well, I’ve moved on, like I say I’ve got rubber puppets, I’m doing well. I just wanted to ask. (Tom) When you say Rubber Puppets, what kind are we talking about? (LPC) Well, I can’t say too much, because I’m a pioneer, and I invented it. (Tom) You ought to get ‘em protected if they’re unique. I’m serious. You know, we have an intellectual property attorney, I’ll get you his number. I’m serious by the way. If you came up with something that’s unique, Rubber Puppets, he would help you. He would first of all do a search, and then he could help you protect it. Very serious about that. Okay, we got a lot, coming right back.